California Fishing Passport

[steveooo]

Anybody else doing it?

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fishingpassport/

Basically it is a free book that you can pick up at a few tackle shops, or download online, that helps you keep track of what & how a many species you have caught in CA. California lists about 150 "game species", including some shell fish, that you can catch and record for your (and their) purposes. I differ a bit from the passport program. The program says either a witness, or a photo of a catch is ok. I say, no photo = Bull S#$%!. Another clause is that the species must be caught in California. That's the part that kills me. I've caught plenty of small mouth bass, but none in California. So, you catch a species in Cali, take a pic of it, show the photo to an authorized passport stamp place, they give you a stamp, and you can check a new species off the list. My lifetime goal is to get all 150,+ a few. To be honest, I just want to catch all the species, but I have never actually gotten a stamp for a documented species. Maybe later after I get a few more I will start getting stamps. I already have about 45 listed species in Calfornia, plus about 25 species that aren't listed as a "game species" such as Girabaldi and Sea Slugs that I have caught on hook and line. The parts that kill me are the "California" and "Photo". I have caught Albacore and Walleye, but never in CA waters. I think I have caught a few other misc rockfish, but i don't have pics of each species. I know I caught them, but (in my mind) unless I have a photo I can print out, I have not filled the slot or requirement for checking off the species. I have also caught a bunch that aren't listed or recognized in CA, that I will include in my personal total. Shell fish, I'm screwed, as I have no documented photos of any catch...

Aside from the species count that I keep for myself, I also keep a lb record for each species, documented by photo. Again, No photo = B.S.! The largest that I have a photo of is 44 lbs. The biggest Gopher Rockfish I have a photo of is maybe 1 lb, but my biggest caught is probably 3 lbs. I dont have a pic of the 3 lber, so the 1 lb record stands. Although I was there when a bigger model came over the rail of the yak, no pic is around to prove it. My photos and tape shots are better than my memory...

Anybody else play stupid games like me?

So what are your documented CA species and Personal best documented lb counts? I'm sure I can get blown out of the water here...

Either way, species count, or lb count, we need our fisheries open. Get involved in the MPLA pocess. Save La Jolla, save Dana, save the area that is special to you!

I am sure personally that I have taken more lbs of trash from the ocean than lbs of fish. I make it a point to find trash floating in the ocean, and pick it up EVERY TIME!
We kayakers are low impact, and are responsible in regard to CA DFG limits and regulations. Every closure impacts kayakers greatly!
GET INVOLVED!! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

(Thanks Holy Mack, PAL, & Zenspearo for all of your hard work!)

Regards,
Steve